CHAPTER 27: LOVERS REUNITE

Thick white fogs surrounded Cecilia and she pondered where she was. As the fog faded away, a mystical land appeared in front of her, filled with numerous waterfalls coming out from the mountains’ mouths into the deep blue waters. Surrounding her were different colors of Immortal Gems swayed side-to-side as it emitted dots of light into the atmosphere, and curious blue butterflies fluttered around her, wondering who she might be. She was in awe to see such beauty, yet she felt there was a connection.

“I’ve seen this place before…but where?”

Then she heard laughter. An image of four young women dressed in white long robes appeared suddenly in front of her. They giggled as they ran through the field of Immortal Gems. Other women and men started to appear around her with glee. Some chased each other, some soared through the sky freely like heavenly fairies, and some played instruments for others to listen and dance. Then she felt a brush of electricity passed next to her. By the time she glanced to see who it was, she saw the person’s back only. The person had long black hair down to his armpit, wore a gold hat with gold beads hung down, and dressed in gold robe with dragon embroidery.

All the men and women saw him and bowed down, “Your Majesty.”

“Majesty?” She thought to herself.

Curious, she wanted to see the man’s face and walked toward him. Every step she took, he got farther from her.

Frustrated, she let out a big sigh and raised her voice, “Let me see your face!”

The King and everyone stopped talking and looked around, surprised.

“Did you hear that?” said one of the men.

“Yes,” answered another man.

“Your Majesty, where did the voice come from?” asked a woman.

Cecilia waved at them to get their attention. “I’m right here! Hello?!”

They didn’t hear nor see her. Just as the King was about to turn around to look her way, the scene transitioned.

“No!” Upset that she didn’t get the chance to see his face, she crossed her arms in front.

This time, in front of her was a small red pavilion that stood next to a cliff. In the background, a massive waterfall roared out loud as it hit the hidden bottom rocks. There was a wooden swinging bridge connected from the edge of the cliff to the other side of the mountain. Then she heard a sweet melody played by a flute and a zither. The instruments played harmoniously with one another with steady rhythm, making it sound soothing to her ears. As she listened to the melody played longer, she recognized it.

“Ma Guo Wei hummed this tune…”

She could hear Ma Guo Wei’s humming and the instruments playing coincided with each other. Then two people appeared in front of her. A young couple, a man and a woman, sat across from each other inside the pavilion, playing the instruments. The woman sat on the ground to play the zither, while the man sat on the ledge of the pavilion to play the flute.

She stared at the young man and thought to herself, “Is that Ma Guo Wei?”

Then she stared at the young woman. She was beautiful-skin pure ivory, rounded hazel eyes, rosy lips, and charcoal long hair that draped down to the ground. Comparing to the others she saw at the enchanted land, the woman was full of elegance. She played the zither with grace and every string she plucked; it gave off the soft vibe under her fingers.

“Who is she and why am I seeing Ma Guo Wei?”

The scene transitioned again. From a distance, she saw raging flames burned high into the dark blood-like sky, and on the ground were corpse of soldiers dressed in different color coded armors. Some corpses were extremely disfigured that it was hard to distinguish their identity. Slowly, she walked through the pile of corpses on the ground.

“What happen here?”

Suddenly a hand grabbed her ankle and she gasped. She looked down to see a bloody corpse with loose skin hung down everywhere to expose flesh underneath, staring up at her.

With his hoarse voice, he pleaded, “Save me…”

Then another hand grabbed her other ankle. This time, she fell to the ground, petrified. Other corpses began to crawl toward her, pleading for her to help save them.

She started to scream, “Get away from me!”

Cecilia woke up and sat up on the bed, breathing hard. Minutes later, she calmed herself down and realized it was only a dream. She looked around and felt disoriented from her surroundings. The bedroom was decorated with pink sheer fabrics that draped down from each red pillars and at the opened arch door. On the walls were hung paintings of sceneries and flowers, and on the right were shelves and decorative tables full of books, papers, and jaded artifacts. She looked down at herself and saw her clothed in white undergarments.

“Where am I?”

She remembered being soaked in Immortal Tears and checked her wound on the chest. The black handprint was gone and she felt relieved to be healed. Then she heard some movements outside and decided to go check it out. She followed the noise and it led her to a stone path full of peony flowers on both sides. She was awe-struck by its beauty and leaned over to smell one. The floral scent was heavenly, so she plucked one and continued her walk. The path led her to an open area and she stopped in her tracks. In front of her was Wu Jian practicing his sword moves with the Five Element Qi Sword. She recognized some of the stances from the drawings inside the cave and stood in silence, fascinated by the moves.

Wu Jian felt a presence and stopped. He turned and saw Cecilia stood in the open, dressed in her white undergarments. Relief that she was awake, his lips tightened to a smile and sighed. He grabbed his cloak on top of the stone table, walked toward her, and wrapped the cloak around her. He tied the strings on her neck to secure the cloak.

“You shouldn’t be roaming around wearing your undergarments.”

She was surprised by his gentleman-like behavior. “I heard noises and came to check what it was.”

He saw the peony flower in her hand, “Are you sure? Or are you here to pick flowers?”

She sneered at him and looked away. Seeing her expression, his grin widened in amusement.

“I’m glad that you are finally awake. You gave us a fright.”

She raised a brow, “What do you mean? Did something happen to me?”

He became surprised, “You don’t remember?”

She scratched her head and pursed her lips. “All I remember was being soaked in Immortal Tears and that was it.”

He thought to himself, “She didn’t remember touching my face and calling me Xing Fu…”

“You fainted and I saved you before you drowned…You were unconscious for a couple of days now,” he explained.

“A couple of days?” Then she remembered being naked in the waters and gasped in shock. She covered her chest with her arms and began to blush. “Y…you saw me naked?!”

“What can I do? Let you drowned?” She didn’t respond. He noticed her face was red and smirked, “Don’t worry. I’ve seen plenty of naked women before so your body isn’t new to me.”

Offended, she clenched her teeth and huffed. Since she was healed, she wanted to teach him a lesson and swung her right hand to slap him on the face, but missed. He already dodged to the side. He pointed at her with his index finger and was about to speak but she didn’t let him. Her flower dropped to the ground as she threw a punch with her left fist, but he grabbed her wrist and wrapped her arm around in front, locking her in position. He was in close proximity behind her and could smell the floral fragrance from her body.

He leaned toward her right ear. “Your moves are sloppy from the last time I saw you fight. Since you are now healed, you need to freshen up your fighting skills.”

She struggled to get out of the lock, but his grip was too strong. “Let go of me ASSHOLE!”

“Call me Your Highness first,” he teased.

She refused. Then she quickly stomped hard on his left foot with her left heel.

“Ow!” feeling the sharp pain from his foot, he let go of her to tend his injury.

She took a couple steps away from him and saw him hopping on one foot. She sniggered at how silly he looked as a Prince of Wu.

In pain, he pointed at her, “You! That was a treacherous move!”

She folded her arms in front and sneered at him. “It’s call smart tactic.”

He massaged his foot, “You are going to get it!”

“Try, I dare you. I’m ready this time.”

He glared at her and mumbled some cursed words. Then he exhaled to calm down. The pain from his foot faded and he let go of his foot. “Fine, I’ll let you win this time.”

She smirked and changed the subject, “Anyway, the sword stances that you just practiced. The first one was the Water Rippling Stance, and the second was…”

Wu Jian’s eyes widened in shock and interrupted her, “You know these stances?”

Cecilia nodded, “I’ve seen it inside the cave. It was glowing…”

He interrupted her again and raised his voice, “Impossible!”

She looked at him confused and wondered why he was getting worked up. “What do you mean impossible? I saw it with my own eyes.”

Wu Jian looked away and remembered his father’s words, “Inside, you will find the hidden manual written on the walls. It was designed to only be seen by the Five Element Qi Sword’s chosen one.”

“Is it possible for her to see the manual also?” he murmured silently to himself.

“Excuse me?”

He turned and gazed at her with sincere. “Xiao Xing…”

She was caught by surprise from him calling her by her name and raised a brow. “Did I hear you correctly? You called me Xiao Xing…”

His mood changed from her remark and scoffed. “What? Do you want me to call you Dirty Low Life then?”

“No…I guess I should call you Your Highness too then,” she muttered and pursed her lips.

Hearing Cecilia addressed him by his title was funny since he was used to her calling him Asshole.

He cleared his throat from trying not to laugh. “Call me Wu Jian when my parents are not presence.”

“Why not Long Wei?”

He folded his hands behind his back, “Stop asking so many questions. Just call me Wu Jian and that’s final.”

He saw her rolled her eyes and knew she was getting irritated by him. He enjoyed teasing her and was entertained by it; however, ever since she came to the cave, he worried for her well-being. For days, he kept a close watch on her while she was unconscious. He would roamed by the manor to check on her, and if he was busy, he had one of his personal maid, Xi Shi, to take care of her and informed him if Cecilia was awake. But today, he didn’t see Xi Shi anywhere. His eyes searched behind Cecilia for the maid. Curious, she turned around.

“What are you looking at?” she asked.

Wu Jian let out a sigh, “That maid! Xi Shi was supposed to take care of you. I’m going to make sure she gets punished for being absence.”

Cecilia turned to him, “Give her a break. She must be tied down in doing something else…Plus, I don’t need a maid to take care of me.”

“There shouldn’t be any excuse if it’s an order, but I’ll let her off this time.” Then he thought about what he was about to say to her before they got side track.

“Get dress. I want to take you back to the cave.”

“Why?”

“Stop asking and just do what I say. I’ll wait for you here.”

She grunted a few words, then turned around and left. Wu Jian shook his head; then he glanced down and saw the peony flower on the ground. He picked it up and leaned close to it to smell the floral fragrance. It reminded him of her scent that he smelled earlier and smiled, showing his teeth.

---

Inside the glowing cave, Wu Jian and Cecilia stood next to each other, staring at the drawings. He felt great to be back in his parents’ sacred place.

She turned to him and asked, “Why are we here?”

He extended his right hand up to the cave walls. “You can see these drawings correct?”

“Yes? Why wouldn’t I?”

He turned to her, “Xiao Xing, nobody can see this unless the person is the chosen Mortal Protector of the Five Element Qi Sword.”

She raised a brow, “Huh?”

Wu Jian folded his hands behind his back and stared at the drawings. “There are five Mortal Protectors that were chosen by the five Celestial Immortal Protectors to protect the Mortal Realm. My mother, Fallen Goddess Wu Li Ling, was one of them. She created the drawings and this sword…” he held up his sword for her see. “…The Five Element Qi Sword that was passed down to my father…then to me.” He looked at her, “I should be the only one to see these drawings, but somehow, you can also.”

“So are you implying that I’m chosen also?”

He smirked. “That’s impossible. But my assumption is since this was created by a Celestial Goddess, any Celestials may also have the potential of seeing it also. Xiao Xing, the incident in Immortal Tears, a mark appeared in the back of your neck. It is the Identity of a Celestial.”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Are you saying that I am a Celestial Goddess then?”

“It is hard to say. From the incident and of what Guo Jing had told us about you, your identity is very complicated. The Taoist Elders will inform us if they hear anything from their grandmaster.”

She sighed sadly, “Alright.”

Then she stared back at the drawings on the walls. “Do you miss her?”

“Yes. Since I lost her at a very young age, I couldn’t recall how she looked like.” He smiled as he thought about his mother. “Just over a year ago, when I was chosen to become the Mortal Protector, my father brought me here to be trained. Only then, I finally saw how my mother looked when she projected herself on the cave walls to teach me the techniques.”

Cecilia turned to glance at him. She noticed his genuine smile and his eyes glistened from reminiscing about his mother.

“At least you saw your mother. As for me, with this memory loss, my identity is unknown. I do not know my background history. All I know is I’m a possible goddess, assassin, or even both. The man, Tsui Man, who wanted to kill me and Kai, the faceless man, that appeared in my dreams…both may know my true identity.”

Wu Jian gazed at her from the side and thought to himself, “Xiao Xing, your situation is much worse than me. While I live in luxury and have responsibilities, you have nothing but tragic and misfortunates.”

He pulled out the peony flower from his sleeve and showed it in front of her face. It startled her that she had to look twice to see what it was, and then she turned to him with a brow raised.

“You’ve dropped this back at the garden. I’m just returning it to the owner.”

Cecilia couldn’t understand his mixed personality. He could be cold one minute and then be kind the next. She took the peony flower from his hand.

“Thank you,” and tightened her smile.

He folded his hands behind his back, “You’re welcome,” and smiled back at her.

---

The sun began to set as the sky slowly turned from blue to red orange. Kai and his group finally reached the foot of Black Forest. Kai and Qiao Shun turned to Mei Mei and saw her pulled out a small red sack out of her sash. Inside were two Immortal Gems’ blue petals, glowing for her to see.

<<---FLASHBACK---

Before Kai and the others departed Mu village, Madam Qiao handed Mei Mei the red sack into her hand.

“Little Mei Mei, inside are two Immortal Gems’ petals that will help you when you enter in and out of the Black Forest without being imprisoned.”

Mei Mei was confused. “I thought it was only medicine for the Celestial.”

“I will tell you a little secret. But you have to promise me not to tell your fellow demons about it.”

“You have my word grandma master.”

“Since Demons and Celestials are Immortals, it has its benefit as well as drawbacks for Demons. The benefit is if taken, it will confuse any Celestial seals thinking that you are a goddess. Think of it as a temporary talisman for Demons. However, it will harm your life as well. Place it under your tongue but make sure do not swallow it.”

“What happen if I did?”

“Then you immediately turn into ashes.”

“Oh…” she became silent.

Madam Qiao continued, “You only have two hours to maneuver through the forest. If you exceed the time limit, you will die. Do you understand?”

Mei Mei nodded, “I understand grandma master. Thank you.”

---FORWARD TO PRESENT--->

She took one petal out and stared at it for a moment. “I can’t believe a little piece of petal is a gift, but deadly to demons as well.”

Qiao Shun elbowed her on the arm, “Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Thank you gege master,” she said smiling.

“Ready to go in?” asked Kai.

She nodded and placed a petal inside of her mouth. They entered in and rushed through the forest before their time ran out. Mei Mei was ahead to lead the way. Around them, rustling leaves and demon whispers were heard and they knew they were being watched. Mei Mei suddenly froze in her track and extended her arms out to her sides.

“Stop!” she shouted.

They all stopped at her command.

“Why are we stopping?” asked Kai.

She kneeled down and pointed at the thin wire. “This is why. If any of us tripped on it, it will alert the Wu warriors.”

“Being trapped in Black Forest does pay off then,” Kai said jokingly.

“I guess you can put it that way,” Mei Mei smiled. “We don’t have much time left, so let’s continue.”

Everyone carefully crossed over the thin wire with success. They ran for a couple more miles until they reached a huge wall full of thorny vines that extended miles away from both directions.

“Behind this wall is Wu tribe.”

“Can’t we just fly over this wall?” asked Qiao Shun.

“You can’t. There’s an invisible wall so nobody can fly in or out of the Black Forest.”

“Finding an entrance will lose time. Let’s cut these damn vines instead.” said Kai.

“Even if we cut it, ten grows in its place,” said Mei Mei.

Kai tested it and swung his sword a couple of times with downward strokes at the vines and noticed the wall was thick. He didn’t see an opening from the other side. The broken vines quickly sprouted in all directions, covering the damaged.

“We’re out of luck then,” said one of Qiao Shun’s men.

Kai didn’t want to give up. “Mei Mei, think. How did the Wu warriors come in and out of the Black Forest?”

She scratched her head, trying to remember the times she secretly observed the Wu warriors.

“They just waved their hands to the side and the wall opened up,” she replied.

“Since we’re not from Wu tribe, it won’t work for us,” said Qiao Shun.

Then Kai thought of an idea, “Since we have four swords, we can cut through the vines repetitively at a time. It may stress the vines out as they try to grow in their place. But we will have to be quick on our strokes,” said Kai.

Qiao Shun nodded, “Alright. Let’s try it then.”

Mei Mei stood back while the men started to cut the vines. Kai cut first, Qiao Shun followed, and then his men. Every time the vines were cut, it tried to grow but was cut again. Their blades got deeper into the thick wall.

“It’s working!” said one of Qiao Shun’s men excitingly.

They quickly picked up the pace and the wall began to become thinner until they saw beams of light through the opening. As the men were busy cutting through, Mei Mei sensed danger nearby.

“Wu warriors!”

Twenty Wu warriors and Chief Li flew above and landed ten feet away from them. Kai and the others stopped what they were doing and turned around. They were surrounded with no escape. The thorny vines started to sprout again and slowly covered the damage done by them. Mei Mei glanced at Kai and Qiao Shun from the corner of her eyes.

“Don’t stop. I’ll deal with them.”

The men continued cutting while the Wu warriors charged at them. Mei Mei transitioned to her demon form. Her eyes turned firing gold and body gave off a green aura. Her hands extended in front and she channeled her energy to form a green ball of flame. With a thrust forward, the ball of flame flew at the warriors in front and hit five of the warriors. They were knocked off of their feet and onto the ground.

“She’s a demon!” shouted Chief Li.

She knew what they were going to do next; they were going to kill her. Some warriors stopped and chanted the Wu Binding Spell, while others fought her with swords. Qiao Shun turned and saw she was in trouble. He dropped what he was doing and helped Mei Mei. He rushed to her aid and fought alongside with her, stabbing and slashing each warrior with his sword as they approached them. Since Qiao Shun left, Kai and the others couldn’t continue cutting through the vines. Their manpower had lessened and he gave up. He rather dealt with the warriors first and then the wall later. Kai saw Chief Li and some warriors chanting from the side and charged at them. He disrupted their chant and fought them with his sword.

---

Cecilia and Wu Jian conversed as they walked their way back to Wu Tribe.  

“The white fox that helped you, she’s a friend that I’ve made during my intense training. Her name is Qingge and she is one of the Silver Fox Demons. She is one of a few good demons trapped in Black Forest after the Epidemic.”

She folded her arms in front and stopped to stare at him.

He glanced at her, “What?”

“I’m surprised that you befriended a demon comparing to your father. He’s not fond of them.”

“He’s not. From seeing the chaos demons have caused onto our people and my mother’s life, he doesn’t want anyone to associate with them.”

“What did the demons do to your mother?”

They continued their walk as he answered her question. “As a Fallen Immortal, my mother’s life became more vulnerable. She aged rapidly and prone to diseases. Whenever she used her Celestial essence, she became weaker; therefore, most of her essences were used to create the Black Forest seal and she became ill.” He sighed sadly before continuing. “That is why my father despised demons. He blamed them for my mother’s early death.”

“I understand.”

Wu Jian heard faint metal clangs and voices ahead and stopped. “Did you hear that? It sounds like people fighting.”

Cecilia listened carefully and heard the noises as well. “I do.”

“Let’s go.” Both ran toward the noise.

Cecilia and Wu Jian arrived at the scene and saw the Wu warriors and Chief Li fighting with the trespassers. Although the warriors were mass in numbers, one by one, they were being defeated by the trespassers. She saw a dead warrior nearby and next to him was his sword. She picked it up and glanced at Wu Jian. He knew what she was going to do.

“Be careful,” he said.

She nodded and both rushed to help the warriors.

Kai spin kicked Chief Li on the left cheek and Chief Li’s body twirled in the air before hitting the ground. Kai thrust his sword onto his chest but was deflected by another sword. In seconds, the incoming blade swung at his neck with quickness and he blocked the hit in time with his sword. Kai turned to see who this opponent was. His eyes widened in shock to see Cecilia. She stared coldly at Kai.

“Cici, it’s me! I’m…”

Before he finished his sentence, she used all of her weight to push him off. He staggered backwards.

“Cici…”

Her sword thrust forward to his chest, he parried. He knew she wouldn’t recognize her and tried to call her name again, but met her blade instead. He thrust an open palm hit onto her right shoulder. She staggered backwards. He felt bad hitting her but she needed to hear what he had to say.

“Listen, Cici…”

She lunged with mad fury toward Kai as she aimed her sword at his chest again; he deflected her blade with his. With quickness, she twirled her body in midair and her blade slashed deep into his right arm. He felt a quick stung on the arm. Blood started to seep through his wound and he place pressure on the wound with his other hand. She landed on the ground with one knee and the sword raised to her side, readied for another attack.

As Mei Mei fought with the warriors, she quickly glanced over and saw Kai wounded by his opponent.

Mei Mei recognized her. “Cecilia…” she whispered.

Mei Mei was going to help Kai when she felt Cecilia’s powerful god-like energy. She couldn’t come close to Kai as she wished and shouted instead.

“KAI!”

“Kai?” Cecilia murmured in shock to hear his name.

She finally met the faceless man in her dream and immediately, Cecilia dropped the sword to the ground. Not too far from her, Wu Jian and Qiao Shun were in the middle of a swordfight when Wu Jian saw Cecilia kneeling. He palm hit Qiao Shun on the shoulder and Qiao Shun staggered backwards. Wu Jian quickly flew to Cecilia.

Kai was happy that Cecilia recognized his name and made his way toward her. Wu Jian flew in time and his arm stretched forward with his sword in his hand, aiming at Kai. Kai saw the point of the blade inches away from his heart and stopped before being stabbed. He glanced at Wu Jian and wondered who he might be.

Wu Jian extended his other hand down to her. “Come, get up Xiao Xing.”

She took his hand and slowly got up while unblinkingly stared at Kai. From her drawings and dream, the man in front of her didn’t quite match the description. The man’s hair was long and more built compared to the short hair faceless man. She began to doubt if he was really the faceless man or not.

Qiao Shun recognized Xiao Xing and ran toward her, calling her name. Cecilia broke the trance and turned around to see Qiao Shun running.

Happy to see him, she shouted, “Young Master Qiao.”

Just as Qiao Shun was about to past Mei Mei, she grabbed a hold of his arm to stop him.

“Gege master…”

He felt the hard tug from Mei Mei’s grip and stopped.

He turned to her and saw she looked frightened. Her hands trembled from his arm.

“Are you ok Little Mei Mei?”

She shook her head. “I…”

She felt the god-like energy was stronger and her body began to weaken. She quickly turned her head and saw Cecilia coming their way. Her eyes bulged out in fright and extended her right palm toward Cecilia.

“STOP! Cecilia, don’t come any closer.”

When hearing the name, Cecilia immediately stopped and muttered silently, “Cecilia…”

It reminded her of the wedding massacre when Tsui Man called her by that name.

“Is Cecilia really my name?” she pondered.

“Mei Mei, what’s going on?” Qiao Shun asked.

“She can kill me gege master.”

Qiao Shun was puzzled by her answer.

Wu Jian saw Mei Mei’s golden eyes and knew the reason. He smirked, “Your friend is a demon. Xiao Xing has the Celestial god-like powers and can kill your friend.”

Kai was confused and shocked at the same time to discover that she has the ability. Madam Qiao’s words of Cecilia being the reason of transporting to another dimension began to haunt him.